Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

The School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography is committed to fostering an inclusive culture that promotes equity and values diversity, justice, and belonging. We are developing a working, learning, and social environment where the rights and dignity of all our staff and students are respected. Our focus on equity recognises that everyone has a different starting point in life. 

Our EDI story so far 

Comprising a broad range of staff and students, the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) committee works to devise and implement good practice on EDI across the School. We seek to identify equity and equality objectives for SAME and monitor action plans and implementation of these objectives. We evaluate data and evidence to understand equity needs within the School and regularly review SAME policies with regard to EDI.  

The committee manages a small budget for developing projects to improve EDI, including, but not limited to, appropriate training. We welcome suggestions from staff and students on how we can use this funding to better support and promote activity across the School dedicated to meeting our shared objectives. Please share any ideas or suggestions with the EDI Secretary.

The School is critically engaging with the complex and at times shameful history of the discipline and its origins in Oxford through the Histories of Oxford Anthropology Project (HOAP). This project aims to better represent the 'hidden histories' of the department, through student-led re-evaluation of our history and what is relevant to it.  

As a department directly linked to the training of colonial officers, one aim is to reflect further on the relationship between anthropology at Oxford and the history of colonisation. Equally, the HOAP project, alongside the Diversifying Portraiture project, are starting to highlight contributions to scholarship which have been wrongly overlooked - though there remains much to do.

Valid July 2023 - July 2028  

The renewal of our Bronze Award signals our ongoing commitment to tackling gender inequalities and barriers in the life of the School. Our new action plan will ensure we are able to better support all those who wish to further their careers whilst maintaining a balance with their home and family lives.  

School Priorities for 2023-2028 

• Empower the EDI committee to serve as the hub of gender equality action across the School. 
• Improve career progression, particularly for colleagues on fixed term contracts. 
• Continue to address gender bias in admissions, attainment and recruitment. 
• Work to strengthen School culture to foster inclusivity and a sense of belonging. 
• Sustain work against bullying and harassment. 

Examples of EDI focused initiatives our staff and students are involved with

SAME staff and students are involved with initiatives and societies across the University which share common EDI concerns and goals. This includes the Indigenous Studies Network, and the Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx).  

SAME staff collaborate on two UNIQ Summer Schools - for Archaeology and Anthropology, and for Human Sciences. UNIQ prioritises state school students with good grades from diverse backgrounds to make successful applications to the University of Oxford.  

SAME participates in the Academic Futures programme, a series of scholarship programmes that will address under-representation and help improve equity, diversity and inclusion in our graduate student body, including Black Academic Futures, Refugee Academic Futures, and Care Experienced Futures. We welcome all applications and enquiries through these routes.  

COMPAS has devised its own action plan, in recognition of its work with refugees and migrants and the importance of including lived experience leadership within its work. This includes a recent award from the Public Engagement with Research fund to further develop Expert by Experience and peer researcher groups to support our research and a new partnership with the Refugee-Led Research Hub.

Useful links 

For All

• Sexual Harassment and Violence Support Service 

• Oxford University Equality and Diversity Unit (EDU)

• UNIQ

• HOAP project  

• Academic Futures Pages  

• Social Sciences Division Equality, Diversity and Inclusion pages 

For Staff 

• OxIntranet including: 

  • All HR Policies and Guidance

  • Health, Safety and Wellbeing

  • Employee Assistance Programme

  • Parental Leave

  • Learning and Organisational Development 
     

• EDU Staff Networks

• SAME Staff Sharepoint 

For Students

• Student Welfare and Wellbeing including:

  • Student Counselling Services

  • Further Student Support, for:

    • Care Experienced Students

    • Estranged Students

    • Student Parents

    • Young Adult Carers